3:AM Magazine

17 Lines in Defence of Brutalism

By Tony O’Neill.

for many of us
life consists of long stretches
of stifling boredom
shot through
with undiluted moments
of extreme brutality, beauty, sadness:
for sons of the rich
maybe the balance is different
for those born into war
more extreme still

but I will take
17 lines
gleaned from those
terrible, terrifying moments
over 17 volumes
meditating on tedium…
wouldn’t you?